Dear Diary: Life After The Bathhouse
by violintides
Summary: A diary kept by Chihiro about what happens after she leaves the bathhouse. There will be many chapters. Will she ever see Haku again? What happens with her friend, Kuri? And who is this Izumo guy? Please R&R. Haku X Chihiro X Izumo, my O.C.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I plan on writing many chapters to this. It is from Chihiro's P.O.V., it is a journal/diary which she begins to keep in order to keep herself from thinking the visit to the spirit world was just a dream._

**"Dear Diary"**

_**(life after the bathhouse)**_

**by:**

**ViolinTides**

Dear Diary,

Today it has been one year since I left the spirit world. My parents, which had been turned into pigs while there, had fully recovered from the experience. You see, at first they continued to eat and eat, shoveling food into their mouths and expanding their large stomachs. Money was hard during those times. But now, mother has finally seen the light (after her pants wouldn't fit anymore) and realized that she and father must go on a diet. They said I can still eat however I choose, but they don't want me to grow up to be fat. My grades are alright. My friends, the few I did have, haven't returned any of my letters ever since we moved. The people at school really aren't very friendly. They call me names, 'stick figure', 'puny', 'ponytail girl'. I've tried things to sway them from calling me these names. I ate the way my parents did and still never gained a pound, I wore my hair down, I changed my clothing, I even wore make-up. Nothing seems to please these people though. I suppose if you aren't perfect, you just don't fit. I have to admit, though, ever since I left the bathhouse I've never felt like I really belonged anywhere. I wonder how everyone is doing? Well, regardless of how little the children at school like me, I still have homework to do.

Love,

Chihiro

_**Please read and review. Any and all suggestions/comments/flames/etc are welcome. You are welcome to email me as well. violintides at hotmail dot com. Thank you for reading!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Chapter 2. Chihiro reflects on what happened at the bathhouse._

**"Dear Diary"**

_**(life after the bathhouse)**_

**by:**

**ViolinTides**

Dear Diary,

Another day, another insult from the kids at school. I've never felt more alone in my life. I wish it were easier to make friends at school. It's only been a few months since my last entry, but things haven't exactly changed much. Nothing's been very exciting lately since that day.

I remember it like it was yesterday. My father's curiosity had gotten the best of him and we ended up stopping at some silly old train station. I wanted to stay. I tried to convince mother, but she wouldn't listen to reason. I sat there in the car, clutching my bouquet of flowers given to me by a dear friend. When I realized my parents were going to run off and leave me in the car by myself, I panicked. I darted out of the vehicle. Realizing that I might damage my flowers, I put them gently back into the car and rushed ahead of mother and held onto father's arm. I wasn't necessarily a 'daddy's little girl', but I didn't want to be left alone. Once we passed through the train station, my parents caught a wiff of delicious-smelling food. They refused to let it drop and followed their noses. The food was prepared for the spirits. They weren't supposed to, but they ate it. A LOT of it. After some exploring done by me, and a brief meeting with a certain boy, I tried to grab my parents and run away, run for our lives! However, they had already eaten too much and were turned into pigs. I was so scared, thinking maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. I ran around, looking for my mother and father. When I couldn't find them, I did the only thing I thought I could do: Run. Sadly, I was unable to make it back through the train station. The meadow was no longer a bunch of green, rolling hills. Now it was a large lake, filled with lots of water. The train station, which previously had seemed so close, was now so far away. It appeared that there were many different creatures and monsters (which I later learned were just spirits). I sat down, crying in defeat, my hands were beginning to fade away as if I were a ghost. I thought I was dreaming and hoped I would wake up. As I sat there crying, the boy comforted me, talked with me, and told me I must eat. He gave me a simple berry and assured me it would not turn me into a pig. Eventually, we made our way through the bathhouse. We dashed this way and that, avoiding unfriendly eyes, and avoiding being seen or heard. I was told to ask the boiler man for a job. I remember approaching him and his many limbs; how he denied me again and again for a job. How he saved me by acting as though I were his granddaughter. How the woman known as Lin was not so friend to me at first, but would become one of my best friends. Yubaba gave me a job, I ended up letting a monster into the bathhouse, No Face, who began to eat people. I helped a River Spirit with a 'thorn in his side'. I helped Haku break free of Yubaba's controlling spell by stepping on a black slug. I helped save the bathhouse by getting No Face to throw up the people he'd eaten, the food he'd eaten, and eventually he chased me out of the bathhouse.

My parents, still pigs in a pigpen, were blissfully unaware of all of this.

I ended up making many friends while in this spirit world. Kamaji (the boiler man), Lin (the woman who helped me meet Yubaba), Zeniba (Yubaba's sister, both of them are witches), Boh (Yubaba's big baby boy), No Face (he was nice when he wasn't eating people), and finally Haku (the river spirit of the Kohaku River). These people had more of an impact on my life than my parents, than any of my old friends, or any of the new people at my new school.

I miss them all dearly and I hope, by writing all of this down, that I remember it was NOT all just a dream.

Love,

Chihiro

_**Please read and review. Any and all suggestions/comments/flames/etc are welcome. You are welcome to email me as well. violintides at hotmail dot com. Thank you for reading!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Chapter 3. A little addition to the last chapter, really. Nothing much here._

**"Dear Diary"**

_**(life after the bathhouse)**_

**by:**

**ViolinTides**

Dear Diary,

My last entry was a little rushed, let me finish my story. So in order to escape the spirit world (and the contract which Yubaba had on me for my job), I had to look at 10 different pigs and decide which were my parents. None of them were my mother and father. In the end, the contract disappeared, my parents were turned back into humans, and Haku had helped save me.

I had really liked him. Haku had never once hurt me, only helped me the entire time. All I ever wanted to do was go back home and just be with my parents. But once I left (never looking back, just like Haku told me), I realized it was the one place I had felt at home. I miss that place, those people, the spirits, everyone, even Yubaba. I know she tried to steal my name, gave us very little food and pay for our jobs, but it wasn't the money or food that made the place what I loved. It was the people.

I hope they are all alright.

Today is my orchestra rehearsal. Did I forget to mention? I play the violin now. I've always wanted to play ever since I saw this one girl playing a beautiful melody in concert. My parents, before we moved, were big into that sort of classical music. Now I am big into it and they listen to more main stream things than I do.

Either way, I must run off, I have a shot at being second chair today (2nd best in the entire violin section is a big honor!). Wish me luck, Diary!

Love,

Chihiro

_**Please read and review. Any and all suggestions/comments/flames/etc are welcome. You are welcome to email me as well. violintides at hotmail dot com. Thank you for reading!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Chapter 4. Some time progresses between the last chapter and this one. Let's see what happened..._

**"Dear Diary"**

_**(life after the bathhouse)**_

**by:**

**ViolinTides**

Dear Diary,

Haha, I can't believe I found this old thing. I had lost it when I was younger and thought maybe it'd gotten thrown away. Here it is, though, stored away in some dusty old box. Well, I suppose that means it's time for some updates, right?

I'm now 16. Reading through this diary and noticing the dates, it appears it has been 5 years since my visit to the spirit world. That trip changed my life forever and I feel it may have been for the better. When I went in, I was a scared, whiney, crybaby of a little girl. Now I am more fearless, more willing, and more able to do things on my own than I would ever have been without that experience.

My parents are still alive and kicking, but they fight a lot. It seems not many couples stay married anymore. Maybe it's just my experience, but I've heard them talk of divorce, and I'm not an idiot. I know what that will mean: Two seperate houses, two seperate schools, two seperate lives. I sure hope that never happens.

Oh, and I made a friend. Yeah, only one, but one friend is better than none, right? Her name is Kurishita. We just call her Kuri for short. She's 2nd chair in my orchestra. Yes, I still play the silly violin. I don't know how much longer I will be able to though. The instructor/conductor and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye. I can be a little abraisive at times, but I try not to. Either way, I did make 1st chair and I have a solo to work on so I dont have much time to finish writing this.

Kuri and I hang out only once in awhile. We're not exactly "Best friends" or anything like that. We just hang out before and after orchestra. We practice together. Sometimes we have classes together. Either way she is a great deal of fun to be around.

My love life is, sadly, pathetic. I have never gone on a date still. None of the boys are really 'jumping' to get me. No one is really interested in asking me out. I dont even really _know_ any guys who might like me. It's no big deal anyway. I'd have to turn them down.

My heart still belongs to a special dragon.

Love,

Chi-Chi (Kuri's nickname for me.)

_**Please read and review. Any and all suggestions/comments/flames/etc are welcome. You are welcome to email me as well. violintides at hotmail dot com. Thank you for reading!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Chapter 5. Poor Chihiro... Read up and find out about it._

**"Dear Diary"**

_**(life after the bathhouse)**_

**by:**

**ViolinTides**

Dear Diary,

I write on these tear-stained pages with a shaking hand. Let me explain why to the best of my heartbroken abilities.

Kuri and I were heading home from orchestra practice this past Friday. We decided to go grab a cheeseburger at a local 'hangout' that most teens in our area went to. We ate cheeseburgers, fries, a few milkshakes and had a great conversation. Judging from the dates on the entries, I never did inform you of me acquiring my license. Well, now you know, so I drove everywhere on my own pretty much. Kuri is 17 and has had her license about a year longer than I, so I did not worry when it started to pour and she said she'd be fine driving home.

She wasn't. She probably would have been fine had it not been for the other people on the road last night.

A man, in his late thirties, had just gotten divorce papers from his wife. He came home to find his things packed, she was gone, and ontop of the suitcase sat a pile of papers for him to sign away his marriage. Apparently that shocked him and he went out for drinks.

There is a bridge in Tokyo, a famous one. The sad part is that the name slips my mind right now. I can barely write this with proper grammar, much less remember the name of some stupid bridge.

Anyway, the rain made it hard to see in the dark while driving. The man did not have his headlights on and he was drunk as a skunk. Poor Kuri had not drank a single bit of alcohol, but had noplace to go when the man slid out of control; the bridge made it so she had no choice but to slam on her brakes, which really did no good.

I end this entry with the hope that no one ever has to go through this loss. Kuri is dead, she is gone, my parents don't even care that I mourn the loss of the only true friend I ever had. They demand that I go to school tomorrow.

I'm not going.

For Kuri,

"Chi-Chi" ... Chihiro

_**Please read and review. Any and all suggestions/comments/flames/etc are welcome. You are welcome to email me as well. violintides at hotmail dot com. Thank you for reading!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Chapter 6. Chihiro is just reflecting and get an interesting offer..._

**"Dear Diary"**

_**(life after the bathhouse)**_

**by:**

**ViolinTides**

Dear Diary,

I haven't been to school in over a week. I haven't heard from my dragon since that day I said goodbye to him forever. I haven't stopped thinking about Kuri ever since it happened. I thought she'd be okay...

I keep blaming myself. Thinking that I could've taken her home or rode home with her... maybe then things would be different.

Today I was sitting at a spot under a tree in the shade, just doodling on a sketchpad. Considering the tree was very close to school property, people usually went to eat there for lunch on nice days like this. I met a boy there who was with a group of friends. He came over to my side of the tree and asked to speak with me. He asked me to go to the homecoming dance with him. I told him no. Why, you may ask? Well... I told him I was flattered by his offer, but that I had my thoughts on another. He asked who, and I simply replied with, 'Someone special.' When he couldn't pry anymore information out of me, he gave up.

I wonder if he was serious in his offer. I don't know though. He is part of some clique which includes cheerleaders and jocks. God knows THEY can't be trusted.

For Kuri,

...Chihiro

_**Please read and review. Any and all suggestions/comments/flames/etc are welcome. You are welcome to email me as well. violintides at hotmail dot com. Thank you for reading!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Chapter 7. Is Chihiro finally happy?_

**"Dear Diary"**

_**(life after the bathhouse)**_

**by:**

**ViolinTides**

Dear Diary,

Well, another update, a slightly happier tone this time. I promise.

I was able to attend the funeral at the graveyard for Kuri. Don't ask me why they took so long in getting it done. Something about investigating who it was that killed her in the hit-and-run drunken accident. I guess they found the guy because he tried to pry her from the car. His hair was on the body and a DNA test proved who it was that did it. After he was brought in for questioning, I guess his guilty conscience led him to confess. Poor (dumb) guy.

So I am attending school again. I've had to stay late every day these past two weeks in order to get caught up. That's alright, though, because I've made more friends from spending so much time at school. I've been distant from my parents. Reason being is because when I refused to go to school, they'd tell me to go anyway. I would simply pack my backpack with food, a little money I've earned from allowances from them, and an extra set of clothing. I wouldn't go to school, though, I'd simply go to my tree where Kuri and I used to have lunch so often (that's why I hung out there so often lately...)... I'd waste the day doodling and hoping for Haku to come see me.

He never did. Now I am going back to school.

The boy who asked me to Homecoming? His name is Izumo. He's really quite a guy. First, he pursued me by following me around school and trying to talk to me all the time after classes (since I had to stay late so often). Then, he started leaving me notes in my locker. His notes went something along the lines of 'Smile, you look beautiful when you do.' and 'Your name shouldn't be Chihiro, it should be Chihomi -- because you are beautiful a thousand times over!' It's really quite sweet. Now he's taken to leaving a new flower in my locker every day. So far I could probably make three bouquets. Lilacs, Roses, Daffodills, Carnations, Tulips... you name it, I probably have one.

I've decided that I will go to Homecoming with him. As such, he has been spending lunch with me everyday. At first he asked me to sit with him and his friends. They were kind of rude and shallow though. I would always eat lunch fast and just get out of there. When he figured out that was why I didn't like sitting there, he agreed to eating with me at my tree.

Well, I am going dress shopping later. I'll fill you in.

With hope,

Chihiro

(Izumo really does call me "Chihomi" now... it's so sweet)

_**Please read and review. Any and all suggestions/comments/flames/etc are welcome. You are welcome to email me as well. violintides at hotmail dot com. Thank you for reading!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Chapter 8. Chihiro seems to be getting awfully close to Izumo..._

**"Dear Diary"**

_**(life after the bathhouse)**_

**by:**

**ViolinTides**

Dear Diary,

I've never been one to be particularly happy ever since leaving the bathhouse of the spirit world on that fateful day. I've always longed to have Haku back in my life. I wonder though, will he keep his promise? Will he ever show? If he does show, will he be a little boy still, or will he have aged? I think I remember hearing someone say that spirits can choose any form they like, but is Haku the same? If it IS true, why in the world would Yubaba and Zeniba choose to still look the same?...

Well, since I don't know the answers to any of these questions, I'll stop my ramblings and simply tell you what's new:

Izzy (Izumo) and I went to Homecoming together. We didn't exactly get Homecoming King and Queen or anything, but I sure felt like a princess tonight. Not because he blew a ton of money on a limo or anything, but... well, let me just tell you how it happened:

He came to my house with, of course, a corsage for me and also a pair of roses wrapped in plastic with a tag on them called 'sweetheart roses'. He said I was too wonderful to deserve anything less than roses. I was excited because the dress I chose was black velvet with roses imprinted on it (not sticking out like a sore thumb type of red, they were a dull red to blend in with the black of the dress). My shoes were strappy black ones, of course pantyhose, and my hair was in this lovely bun with little pieces curled around my face. My mother even put little tiny flower pins in my hair to hold the bun. It looked so great!

So we went to the dance (my mother drove us, but we sat in the back together), we talked a lot of the night, but also some of the night was spent with slow movements to the music. My head on his shoulder, his arms around me, and us dancing the night away. When his mother dropped me off at my house, he gave me a kiss on the cheek goodnight. He didn't try anything further.

I'm not sure if I would have let him try anything more, but I kind of liked the kiss.

Oh Haku, where are you? I loved you but you abandoned me. How could you do this to me? And now here I am, with a perfectly good guy who likes me, about to turn 17 soon, and you're nowhere in sight and you STILL have not contacted me at all...

God I'd better stop before I start crying. I'd hate to ruin my wonderful night. I'm just going to bask in the glow and lay here in my dress with my hair still all done up, thinking about the terrific night.

Love,

Chihomi.

_**Thank you so much to my reviewers so far! (Kamu-san & -Catgirl-of-Bavaria-)**_

_**I hope you like the direction I'm taking in the story, but you never know what might happen in future chapters!**_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Chapter 9. Where is Haku? Is Chihiro truly happy or is she just happy to have someone, anyone, who cares for her? We'll see..._

**"Dear Diary"**

_**(life after the bathhouse)**_

**by:**

**ViolinTides**

Dear Diary,

I haven't much to report in the past few months. Izumo and I have gotten rather close; infact, I'd say we're pretty much steadily boyfriend and girlfriend now. We haven't done anything more than holding hands, hugs, and a few kisses on the cheek every now and then; though I must admit I'm glad of that. If he were to try anything more, I'm not sure how I'd react, honestly. I miss Haku, really I do, but should I wait around forever? Should I hope that he returns and just brush off Izzy? Or should I enjoy the time I have with Izzy in the hopes that it turns into something **more**. What if I spend all this time with Izzy and it turns out that Haku does return? Oh Kami-sama, what if there's something terribly wrong back in the spirit world and he can't get to me to keep his promise and tell me how much he misses me and--...

Ahem, let me stop and take a few deep breaths before I continue...

Alright, now then, I'd better just stop worrying. I know time passes by there the same way it does here; so surely he realizes it's been **years** since the last time we spoke...

_A/N: reason why I know time is the same: at the end of Spirited Away, Chihiro's parents had to remove all the brush and stuff from their car because they'd been gone so long_

Well, I suppose I have nothing new to update other than that I miss him: I wish he were here and that he could hold me like he did the first time we met. His strong, steady arms, his warmth, his eyes, his smile: I miss all of it.

I hope you never read this Haku, but I think love you. I just hope I can see you one day to tell you to your face.

Love,

Chihomi.

_**Make sure to check out the Author's Note included in the diary entry. Not much time passed by between last chapter and this one. I will be making a new update later, probably, with a bigger gap though!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Chapter 10. (dramatic music) dun dun DUUUNNNN..._

**"Dear Diary"**

_**(life after the bathhouse)**_

**by:**

**ViolinTides**

Dear Diary,

It's been awhile.

I have so much to write about; but where do I begin?

Well we'll start with this: Izumo hurt me very badly. I've **never** felt so betrayed in my life.

Let me explain what happened. He hangs out with a rather questionable group of individuals who spend their time drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and speeding down the freeways 'because it's fun'. I'm sure by now, Diary, you know how I feel about breaking the 'rules of the road' from my incident with poor Kuri...

Either way, Izumo thought it might be fun to go on one of their high speed little chases and spend the entire night doing crazy non-sense like that. Turns out there's a few trashy girls who hang out with that group of guys. Needless to say, I ended up hearing about how they were both drunk out of their minds and basically got it on in the backseat of one of Izzy's friend's cars.

Izumo, the perfect gentleman, cheated on me. He didn't just hold hands or flirt with another woman; he straight up screwed some piece of trash. Needless to say, the fact that when intoxicated he was willing to go further with some stranger than he ever was willing to do with me, well... that upset me. Ontop of all of that, **he cheated on me**. How can that ever be forgiven? How can you say 'it's alright, I understand' and just let it go?

I don't know how, I've never been in this serious of a relationship before though, so I figured I'd break it off before it got too bad.

Love notes in my locker, flowers at my doorstep, letters by e-mail; he's really trying here, but those cute little things won't make up for the horrid decisions he made, regardless of how intoxicated he was.

In the name of love,

Chihiro.

_**Looks like things aren't doing too well for our little heroine. Maybe something good will happen soon.**_


End file.
